Learning Your Smile
by Heart's Cross
Summary: Just as the four remaining l'Cie have lost their contact with Fang and Vanille, Hope stared at his feet in disappointment until he saw a familiar figure striding along the distance. "Who are you? And who's Fang?" Hope was shocked & feared by this. She sounded & looked like the energetic, red-headed girl he knew, but was she really Vanille or not? -Spoilers for FFXIII Ending-


**Author's Note:** I can't help it! I looooove Hope x Vanille, oh my effing gosh. And Fang x Vanille, Serah x Noel, Serah x Snow, Noel x Hope, Noel x Yeul, Caius x Yeul, and almost everything else. Though Hope x Vanille, Fang x Vanille, Serah x Noel, and Serah x Lightning are my favorites. God, shippings. Haha.

And bleh, I could really careless about Hope/Light since they have more than enough fanfictions so I'm spreading more of Hope/Vanille.

* * *

Fight after fight, the journey as the six l'Cie came to an abrupt close.

The four remaining l'Cie stood on the face of Gran Pulse alongside an afternoon horizon beaming across them after their temporary crystallization.

The platinum-haired boy murmured silently to himself, his pale expression to the crystal pillar which held Cocoon upwards.

Lightning unhurriedly strolled a few steps then ceased herself to stare at the base of the pillar that brightly displayed several miles away from her.

"They did it, they saved the world," she said, both the palm of her hands slightly clenching into fists, and the edge of her voice spreading a calm tone.

"No, they gave us a new one," a familiar voice insistently projected from the back of Lightning's ears.

Turning around with a small gasp, she stared at the man in deep, blue eyes then the young, stunned teenager and the middle-aged air pilot.

Sazh sighed in relief, placing a joke that was easy to fit in the situation, "That's one gift offered given for not wrapping."

The adolescent in blue-green orbs chuckled lightly and responded sarcastically, his gazes constantly at the stable Cocoon, "Yeah."

They continued to stare...

**"This is as much as we can do; the rest is up to you."**

The silver-haired boy inquired in curiosity, "Does this mean we...we completed our Focus?"

"Cocoon's seeing better days, that's for sure," Snow replied easily.

Sazh added, "Yeah, and I'd say that qualifies as a demolition: Focus complete."

**"Hmph. Whatever you want to believe."**

"Tch. It really is a miracle," Lightning beamed beautifully and tilted her head ever so slightly.

In a split second, Hope checked his brand and only found that it was missing, "My brand! It's gone!"

Everyone else checked the mark on their body and also witnessed that they did not have any l'Cie brand. Blissfully did they laugh in joy within the exception of Snow who looked at the two familiar figures which were simultaneously miles away from him.

**"It's easy to lose sight of things in a world so wide as this one, but if you keep going, you're sure to find what you're looking for—sooner or later."**

"Snow!"

"Serah!" the fiancé ran after the strawberry-haired young woman, threw his arms around her, laughed happily, and spun her around.

"Dajh!" Sazh additionally scurried off to embrace his son.

"Daddy!" the child genuinely hugged his father back.

Just the look on their faces implied that they were all content with what they had now. The determination in their hearts greatly brought their loved ones back, thus turning a tragedy into a miracle. Nevertheless, they were not the ones who _mostly_ saved the world. Fang and Vanille once again shared the same fate of becoming Ragnarok at the same moment they sacrificed themselves to save Cocoon just by holding it up from breaking the utopia into pieces. It was as if a red, delicate heart prepared itself to break. More so, they were the key to success of saving everyone.

Hope on the other hand ran for a few steps and stopped to look around for Fang and Vanille, his head stared down at his feet, "They're gone, aren't they?"

"Hey," Lightning stood next to Hope, her concern making her place a hand over his shoulder.

"I guess they meant for this to be goodbye," he paused as he always had his train of thoughts being filled with Fang and Vanille, Vanille for the most part, "Then again, we've changed our fates before."

Gradually, Lightning was caught in Serah's embrace; her tight grip caused her sister to say: "I missed you."

"Serah..." the soldier held her close, not wanting to let go of her beloved.

Now that everyone was content, Hope really missed Vanille, now that he would not have anyone to always be there to console him, encourage him with no regrets, and someone to smile for him anymore. Lightning was there though, her deep concern for him was as strong as anyone could imagine, but for Vanille's, it was different from Lightning and the others. He just wished she could come back again with a bright beam upon her face.

* * *

They all unhurriedly started to walk back where most of the citizens and the guards were clustering. Hope kept his eyes to the crystal pillar, looking up constantly as he and Lightning sauntered without any rush. Sazh had his son behind his neck, his constant lips responding to his precious Dajh as Serah and Snow also had their delightful moment of conversing together. Hope and Lightning were the only ones behind them, advancing closer and closer to the remaining military units and the scattered populace until he saw a familiar, notable person's hair in interlaced, red-orange pigtails along with paired, hoop earrings, a light pink top, frequent beads over her wrists, her neck, and her clothing plus an included, yellow, and orange skirt beneath her fur pelt who strode calmly.

_Is that really you, Vanille?_ Hope gave a thought in his mind; his movement delayed after he stared at the young woman with strikingly, green eyes from a distance.

Lightning and everyone else stopped when Hope did, for they followed his stares at the girl's appearance.

"Vanille!" Serah shouted, quickly running after her as well as everyone hurrying to the red-head's direction.

Hope was behind everyone. He looked very content more than he could imagine, much more blissful than anyone else at the minute he was right in front of her. He was so glad he could see the red-head again.

"Vanille, I**—**how did you…?" he inquired doubtlessly, his hands tightly intertwined together in the middle of his stomach, "Where's Fang?"

Silence was entirely deafening for a few seconds just before someone commenced to speak up.

She gaped at Hope particularly and gloomily, "Who are you? And who's Fang..?"

"What do you mean by 'who are you?'" Snow questioned in surprise rather than in high spirits.

Hope too, was shocked and feared by this. She _sounded _like Vanille, she_ looked_ like Vanille, but what was up with her statement? Something was different about her, but he could not recall it. Still, he had it on the tip of his tongue.

The boy didn't hesitate to shake his head slowly whereas Sazh placed Dajh down the ground silently. Serah and Snow looked as confused as Sazh or anyone else in the surrounding area. Lightning had her arms crossed, and withdrew it from her chest since she too, was distraught by this.

"I…I don't know you," she took one step backward cautiously, her accent fitting into her voice.

Once Hope approached another step further, he nearly reached over her shoulder, but stopped due to Vanille's alarmed, forthright reaction.

"I don't know who Fang is!" she stepped back once again; she gazed at Hope convincingly, aided by her bewildered eyes.

"...Or any of us," Serah said, finished the mysterious girl's words, and looked away, crushed by this.

The older man in a beige jacket responded just by shaking his head grievously, one hand held his lover's shoulder, "Serah…"

"Listen, you're our friends," Snow already had his fist curled near his face.

For the next ten minutes and more, everyone else explained who she was and her relationships with people. She was Vanille, _Oerba_ **Dia** Vanille, the most important person of Fang, the friends of Lightning, Snow, Serah, Dajh, and the closest girl friend of Hope.

"Don't tell me you've lost your memories or somethin', kid," Sazh reminded the red-headed adolescent, his grief showing more and more by the tone of his voice.

Hope disagreed, "No, it's not that she lost her memories, she just…maybe she did," he sighed, looking very hurt from this situation; he smiled weakly and offered his hand to the one-called-Vanille, "…Then nice to meet you."

**Author's Note:** Uh…yeah, the chapter's quite short, but I'd like to take it slow for this story since I have other things to catch up.


End file.
